Court weighs gun rights of felons

Court weighs gun rights of felons

The Supreme Court is taking up a case that pits property rights against firearm regulations, with the justices poised to decide what becomes of a person’s guns after they are convicted of a crime.

The case, Henderson v. United States, is among three new cases the high court has agreed to hear this term, according to orders handed down Monday.

It centers on Tony Henderson, a former U.S. Border Patrol agent who was charged with selling marijuana in 2006, and later convicted of a felony.

Federal law prohibits felons from possessing firearms, and Henderson turned 15 personal weapons over to the FBI while his case was pending.

Two years later, he submitted a bill of sale to the FBI, indicating that he had sold the guns to another man and asked the FBI to transfer them accordingly. The government refused, reasoning that doing so would amount to granting “constructive possession” of the guns to Henderson.